| The Christian Life | March 1942 |
Love the Final Test
“Now the end of the commandment is charity [love] out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned.”—I Timothy 1:5
AS IS so beautifully set forth in the Daily Heavenly Manna comment for March 12th, “The ultimate object of all the divine dealings for us and with us, and the ultimate significance of all the divine promises made to us, is the development of love, which is God-likeness, for God is love.” It is this same vital and fundamentally important fact that St. Paul sets before us in our text. Love is, indeed, the end of the commandment—that is the true significance of the divine will for us and the mark to which we must attain in the narrow way.
It is just as true today as when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, that no matter what else we do, or to what attainments we may reach, without love, all is in vain—without profit. Even though we could “speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love,” our words would be like “sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” And while love is still the “end of the commandment” for every Christian, it is, also, just as difficult to attain today—perhaps more so—as when the apostle wrote these words to Timothy.
We are now living in a world in which selfishness and hate are rampant in all directions, and on the increase. Half of the world is hating the other half, and both halves are embarked upon an “all out” effort to destroy those whom they hate. The Christian is in this world, and only by divine help can he keep from becoming a part of it. The spirit of selfishness and hatred that motivates so much human activity today is bound to exert its influence in the lives of those who are seeking to follow the “more excellent way.”
National and international hatreds are engendered to a large extent by propaganda, true and false. In this war of words each nation endeavors to offset the effect of what the other says by pouring out its own version of what is right and wrong. The Christian’s safeguard against all this confusion of tongues is in the message of the truth, the Gospel of love, which to us is the power of God unto salvation. It is to this message we should give heed, and in the spirit of it we should endeavor to grow.
True Christian growth in grace and knowledge is reflected in an increasing manifestation of love in thought, word, and deed. God Himself has given us a perfect example of true love in the gift of His beloved Son. This was a gift intended for the blessing of those then alienated from Him through wicked works. If our love is to be like His, we, too, will love even our enemies, and be willing to do them good, even at the cost of sacrifice to ourselves. Until love has promoted this spirit in us we have not attained “that for which also we have been apprehended.”—Phil. 3:12
True Christian love is more than merely a kindly feeling toward others. Love that is genuine will seek expression in unselfish efforts to bless others. Those nearest to the Christian are His own brethren in Christ, and for these he will delight to lay down his life. And he will not limit his sacrifice to those who are most nearly like himself in spiritual growth of grace and knowledge, but will gladly do everything possible also to help the weaker members of the Christ body to make their calling and election sure. Yea, the true Christian spirit will prompt the follower of the Master to seek out and rescue those who have fallen by the wayside whenever and wherever possible. Like the Good Shepherd who left the “ninety and nine” that were safely in the fold to find and bring back the straying one, so we, in proportion as we are filled with true Christian love, will gladly extend a helping hand to all who may need it.
Christian love will also extend its blessings to mankind in general. God loves all people, and has made provision for their blessing. He has invited us to joint-heirship with Jesus in order that we may share in the work of dispensing His blessings when the Kingdom is established. Now He is testing us to prove our real love for those whom He wants us to bless. The proof of our joy in the hope of dispensing future blessings is the zeal we manifest in seeking and using opportunities to scatter blessings now. Present privileges of service are as an apprenticeship in preparation for the future glorious opportunities. What degree of love are we demonstrating in this practical school of Christ?
It is a mistake to suppose that God wants a Christian to concentrate only on himself. True, the important present objective in the Christian life is the making of his own calling and election sure. But this calling is to a future service of love, and this election is to a place with Christ in bestowing Kingdom blessings on all mankind, hence the making of our calling and election sure requires that we demonstrate the degree of unselfishness that now rules in our hearts. This love in our hearts can be demonstrated only by the service rendered others. We cannot serve our own best interests as Christians by neglecting to serve others. In these trying last days of the church’s career in the flesh, may that “Love divine, all love excelling,” continue to rule in our hearts and guide our lives! There is, probably, no surer way of failing to make our calling and election sure than to become interested only in our own spiritual well-being, or the well-being only of the little group with whom we are directly associated.
GOD’S WILL NEVER CHANGES
In the world-wide struggle being waged today, each group of nations is proceeding according to a definite plan of action. The enemy may stage surprise local attacks here or there, but this is not permitted to change the general plan of action. We, as Christians, may take a lesson from this for our own good. The divine program in which we are invited to cooperate is also being developed according to a definite plan of action. It’s a long-range plan, too, embracing in all a total of seven thousand years. The goal of that plan is the re-establishment of God’s will in the earth. The summary of His will is that one shall love God with his whole heart and being, and his neighbor as himself. The redeemed of mankind who attain to this oneness with the Creator and His law of love, will live forever.
Every detail of the divine plan must be in harmony with its major objective. Those who are invited to cooperate in its accomplishment are acceptable only as they measure up to the spirit and objective of the plan as a whole. Hence, as divine love is the motive back of the plan, divine love must govern any and all who participate acceptably in it. This requirement never changes. No matter what emergencies arise, or what surprise attacks Satan may make upon us as individuals, or upon God’s people as a whole, love must still maintain its control in our hearts and lives.
From this standpoint it can be seen that, fundamentally, God’s will for the entire church has been the same. A change in activity is due at the end of the age—a change from “sowing” to “reaping”—but the spirit and motive of the work remain the same, as do also the rules which govern our activity. Christ’s instructions to turn the other cheek when smitten by an enemy applied to those throughout the age who sowed, and it applies to us in the end of the age who reap. Members of the early church were to love their enemies, and to do good to them who despitefully used them, and we are to do the same. Love never changes—it continues to remain “the end of the commandment.”
Inasmuch as true love is a principle which finds expression in the blessing of others, the application of it is still properly described by the apostle’s admonition: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:10) And why shouldn’t it remain the same? God’s plan calls for the blessing of all the families of the earth, and why should we suppose that He would want us to cease doing what we can to bless as many as possible of them now. Jesus commanded His disciples to lay down their lives for the brethren, and why should we cease laying down our lives for them now. Indeed, even those who attain life at the end of the Millennial age will do so because they have demonstrated their harmony with the great principle of love. See Matthew 25:34-40.
SATAN’S METHODS OF DECEIT
Satan is a wily foe of the Christian, and goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He can deceive and defeat the Christian only in proportion as he is able to hinder his attainment of love as a ruling principle in his life. His surprise attacks will not harm us unless we permit them to draw us away from our main objective. But Satan’s attacks are many and varied; and almost always he uses the Scriptures to cover up his real objective. We have a good illustration of this in the three major temptations he presented to Jesus.
Divine love prompts to sacrifice and service for God and for man, so Satan, knowing this, is ever ready to stress the importance of activity regardless of motive in working for God and for the truth: There is nothing wrong with activity if prompted by love, and every true Christian knows there is nothing wrong with it. But Satan would have us believe that activity is more important than truth itself. Every Christian, however, who realizes the full import of divine love knows that there is much wrong where the zeal to sacrifice for the Lord is lacking. May that “first love” enthusiasm and zeal never be permitted to depart from us, and should it be permitted to temporarily depart, let us pray and work earnestly for its return. But we should be on the alert to keep our hearts with all diligence lest we lose sight of the motive that is prompting us to activity.
Along this line is one of Satan’s methods of deceit. He will keep strumming on the chord of “service” and of “witnessing” in an attempt to whip us up into a frenzied activity for the Lord in which everything else is forgotten except the “work.” When he gets us to that point, we may fall a, ready prey to his further assaults. It is easy for those who are working hard to criticize those who may not be working so hard—that’s true along any line of endeavor. Satan takes advantage of this, gradually promoting a spirit of judging and fault-finding, leading ultimately to condemnation and hatred of others. Sometimes he is successful in leading the Christian so far away from the real goal as to cause him to consign to the second death all those who are not serving in his way.
Where this occurs, Satan has attained at least a temporary victory because he has led his victim away from the real goal of divine love. This doesn’t mean that such an one cannot be reclaimed by God. If his heart is right, and God is dealing with him, it means that God permitted him to have this experience as a necessary part of his training for the future position he is to occupy in the Kingdom. “A just man falleth down seven times, and riseth up again,” the prophet tells us. (Proverbs 24:16) There are many ways in which a Christian may stumble and fall. There may be moral stumblings, doctrinal stumblings, and so forth. We should be on guard against all causes of stumbling, and especially should we be on guard against the natural, selfish tendency to judge those who have stumbled. If we do thus judge and condemn, we ourselves have stumbled. The important thing for us to remember in this connection is that the “just man riseth up again,” and that divine love in our own hearts bids us to do all we can to help such an one to rise.
EXCUSES FOR NO WORK
There are some who cannot be led astray by the gospel of works—works apart from love. These, nevertheless, know that the Lord wants them to serve Him, to present their bodies a living sacrifice, so Satan employs a different method to counteract the influence of love in their hearts. Of course he uses Scriptures. No Christian would be deceived by Satan’s suggestions unless there were some Scriptural background for them. We note here some of the Scriptures now being used for this purpose. One of them is the parable of the wheat and tares. The argument is that this parable clearly indicates a change of work at the end of the age, from sowing to reaping. This, of course, is true. But the erroneous implication is that it requires less sacrificing effort to do the reaping than it did to do the sowing.
Not many, thank God, are influenced by this false implication, but some are, and are thereby induced to become inactive in the service of the truth. In most cases these dear ones feel like Jeremiah, who said that the Word of God was like fire shut up in his bones; and while he decided that he wouldn’t proclaim the message, yet the very message itself finally impelled him to give it out. This same love for the truth, and desire to tell it, will eventually rescue those true-hearted ones today who have been made to believe that it isn’t God’s will for them to publicly proclaim the message.
Actually the parable of the wheat and tares does not indicate a slackening of activity among the Lord’s people. The field is still the world, in which both the sowing and reaping are done. A farmer knows that there is just as much work attached to the harvesting of a field of grain as there is to sowing that field. Of course, if we conclude that the harvest work is completed, then Satan has deceived us in another way; that is, he has induced us to indulge in the judging of our brethren by concluding that the few with whom we are directly associated are the only true wheat left in the world. Once we take this position, the influence of love has been neutralized in our lives and Satan has temporarily defeated us.
Satan is also quick to utilize any measure of discouragement we may entertain. If we have labored long and hard in our own neighborhood, and there seems to be no interest, almost the first thought Satan will put into our minds is that there is no use working, for the harvest is ended. Actually, however, this doesn’t prove a thing. It has always been thus. We read of the large meetings that were held in Brother Russell’s day; and of the wonderfully successful experiences enjoyed by colporteurs, and others, and imagine that those happy times were then universal. This is not true. There were many, many colporteurs in those days who labored for years, day in and day out, and were never blessed by seeing any visible results of their labors. Was that any reason why they should conclude that the harvest work was over? Certainly not.
It is true that there were large public meetings in those days but almost without exception those meetings cost great sums of money, and frequently not a single tangible result accrued therefrom so far as new interest in the truth was concerned. There were classes of the consecrated scattered all over the country, yet there were many villages and towns in which there was not a single truth person; although much work had been done in all these places. Did this fact prove that the harvest was ended? Certainly not!
If we are now working for a present, visible reward, it is quite likely the Lord will not permit us to have that reward, that is, if the Lord is dealing with us. If He is dealing with us, He may permit us to labor long and hard without permitting us to see the result of our labor, in order that love may be the more fully developed in our hearts. Love is unselfishness. If we are laboring for present results alone it would indicate that there is yet some measure of selfishness influencing our behavior. If love has gained full control, we will be happy to keep on sacrificing no matter what the results may be. Then, too, let us not forget that, while we may see no immediate tangible results from our efforts, we are thereby witnessing a good profession before many witnesses and thereby attesting to our fidelity.
We are not by this suggesting that there are no longer visible results from the spread of the message, for there are results. But it’s very much the same as in former days, namely, that results are obtained in some localities and not in others; and at one time, and not another. If you are working hard in your neighborhood and there is no response, search your own heart. Perhaps the Lord is waiting for a certain fruitage there first. Or, perhaps, He is waiting for the ecclesia in your district to be in a better spiritual condition to properly care for new interest. God sees all, and knows all, and in His providences we can safely rest, meanwhile doing all we can to glorify His name, and bless our neighbors.
SORTING THE FISH
Another of the Lord’s parables used to prove that the consecrated should circumscribe the expression of their love for the blessing of others is that of the dragnet. It is pointed out that the work at the end of the age is that of sorting the fish. after the net has been drawn ashore. Therefore, say some, those who still engage in “fishing” are not doing the Lord’s will. Those who make this suggestion fail to realize that the sorting of the fish is a part of the fishing business, and that the fishermen work just as hard at this as they do in casting their nets to catch the fish. Certainly there is no hint here of a slackening of activity.
Furthermore, it should always be remembered that whether fishing or sorting the fish, the work is accomplished by a proclamation of the Gospel. The parable doesn’t mean that the time would ever come when the Lord’s people should cease to proclaim the Gospel, and sit down to sort those who had previously responded to it, arbitrarily deciding who were worthy and who were not. The casting of the net and the counting of the fish, represent different phases of the results accomplished by the preaching of the Gospel. It is in the divine providence that the time comes when the truth itself, circulating among the Lord’s people, causes a separating of the worthy from the unworthy. But in order for the truth to do this, it must be proclaimed far and wide, because the consecrated, territorially, are widely scattered; and today they need the heart-cheering message of the truth as never before.
Brother Russell applied this parable to the change of work that began with the beginning of the harvest period. He understood that in his day the workers were in the sorting period, and we need only to note the energy with which he promoted the spread of the truth far and wide, to know what he understood was involved in the work of sorting. The same holds true today. There is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate that the time will ever come for the church this side the veil, when the work she is commissioned to do shall be done in any other way except through self-sacrificing zeal in letting her light shine for the blessing of others. The very last member of the body to be this side the veil will rejoice in this blessed privilege of displaying the true spirit of love for God and for His truth and witnessing thereto. Not to be filled with such a spirit would mean that one was not yet ready for the Kingdom and its thousand-year work of blessing.
WOE TO THOSE WITH CHILD
In response to questions re the signs that would accompany His second presence, the Master said of that time, “Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!” (Matt. 24:19) In the 4th Volume of Studies in the Scriptures, page 575, there is a beautiful and logical explanation of what this statement really means. There it is applied to the world-converting activities of nominal churchianity. In this effort spurious sons are begotten, not by the word of truth, but by error, and these spurious children are nursed by a diluted and polluted “milk of the word.”
And how woeful is the position of those now who are thus caught by the time of trouble. They have labored to convert heathendom, but have brought forth wind. Worldliness, irreligion and hatred are rapidly supplanting what was hoped would develop into a Christian civilization; and this even in the so-called civilized countries. This unexpected development has left the nominal church leaders in a state of bewilderment and confusion. The expression, “Woe unto them,” as used by Jesus certainly is an accurate description of the present plight of nominal churchianity.
Plain and understandable as is this prophecy of the Master, some may wonder if it is an indication that those who, in the end of the age, continue to hold forth the word of life are thereby placed at a disadvantage. Indeed, the suggestion has been made that this may be so. But those who know the truth realize that there is a vast difference between activity in trying to convert the world with a hell-fire message, and that service which is devoted to declaring a message of comfort to mourning ones—a declaration of the pure message of the Kingdom—and to the building up of our brethren in the most holy faith.
Those referred to by Jesus are in a sad state because they have been caught unawares, and because they have no understanding of the situation in which they have been caught. They are thrown into confusion and consternation by unexpected developments, and have no explanation to offer, nor do they know the way out of their trouble. How different is the lot of the truth-enlightened Christians who are commissioned “to preach glad tidings to the meek, … to bind up the brokenhearted, … to comfort all that mourn,” and especially those “that mourn in Zion.”—Isaiah 61:1-3
These have a message that is in line with the times in which they are living—a timely message for both the church and the world. God has enlightened them with His truth and thus equipped them to deliver this message of the Kingdom. Brother Russell foretold that the time of trouble would furnish wonderful opportunities for the consecrated to let their light shine, and his forecast has proved to be correct. What a blessed privilege it is to be an ambassador for the Lord in these dark days!
When Jesus said “Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!” He certainly didn’t mean that the Christian who was obeying the command to lay down his life for his brethren would be placed in a sad plight by so doing. Such a conclusion would be far-fetched indeed. Paul said that he travailed in birth for certain ones in the early church, until Christ was formed in them, and, to the extent that we have the opportunity, it is the happy privilege of all the consecrated to thus assist in the promotion of Christian development in one another. There is no better way of preparing ourselves for the Kingdom than to be employed in helping each other.
Truth-enlightened Christians who today are laying down their lives in letting their light shine out for the blessing of others, know that this effort is not calculated to convert the world. They expect that, on the whole, the message will be scorned, and that finally it will lead to persecution and, perhaps, death. They know, however, that it is the divine will for them to give the witness, and if it does lead to severe persecution, as it did in the case of Jesus, they will rejoice in the privilege of taking this step with Him. The Christian who goes into death even as the Master did is in no wise in the “woe” category, but can rejoice in that he is a partaker of Christ’s suffering.
Human wisdom may reason that if we hide our talents in a napkin, as did the man in the parable, it is the best way of safeguarding our own spiritual interests, but let us remember that the ones whom Jesus commended were those who used their talents, not those who buried them. Oh, beloved, let us be on guard against this insidious form of the self-first type of Christianity. It is as damaging to healthy spiritual growth as is the works-first gospel. If our hearts and lives are filled and controlled by the divine principle of love, we will be on guard against both of these errors of doctrine and practice.
Yes, how true it is that the “end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, … and of faith unfeigned.” We might give all our goods to feed the poor; or speak with the tongues of men and of angels; possess mountain-moving faith; devote every minute of our spare time to reading and studying the truth; or even give our bodies to be burned, yet if we have not love, these things will not profit us. But if we have love abounding in our hearts, it will prompt us to speak the truth as eloquently as possible, and as much and as often as possible; it will strengthen our faith in God’s providences; it will send us to the Word, there to drink of its refreshing waters of truth; and it will spur us on to continue presenting our “bodies a living sacrifice.”—Romans 12:1
If love does fill our hearts we will not be susceptible to the subtleties of Satan whereby he endeavors, through improper works, or by no works, to have us hide our light under a bushel. We will not be saying “Must I serve?” but “May I sacrifice?”
Yes, Paul, we agree with you, that the “end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart.” Yes, we realize, even as you did, that love is a power in our lives, a power that drives us forward to the sacrifice of self that others may be blessed. We know from your Christian experience that it did just this for you. It sent you to Jerusalem with certain knowledge that bonds awaited you there. It took you to Macedonia and to Rome. It impelled you to proclaim the message which resulted in persecution; imprisonments, stripes, perils of the sea and of the land; yea, perils even among false brethren.
But you kept going, Paul, because love remained in your heart. Even in that prison at Rome, in the shadow of execution, love caused you to pour out your alabaster boxes of blessing upon all you met, even to the guards to whom you were chained. Finally, you wrote again to Timothy and said you were ready to be offered, that the time of your departure was at hand; that a crown was laid up for you; but you didn’t forget to encourage Timothy in the same course of faithfulness that had brought you to the point of death, and to tell him to commit the truth to faithful men who, in turn, would teach it to still others. Yes, Paul, we rejoice in your wondrous vision of the truth and what it means in the life of those who follow the Master; and we want to be like you, and like Jesus whom you emulated and whose cause you served. May God help us in this endeavor!